Berkeley Yellow Cab

by

Yellow Cab Berkeley | Safe and Reliable Cab Service Online

Yellow Cab Berkeley

Yellow Cab Berkeley |
510-434-1234

 

 

Posted By: www.green-transportations.com

Yellow Cab Berkeley

The modern cab service companies of Berkeley are constantly looking for new and easy ways to enhance customer satisfaction when it comes to booking a cab. With everything made so easy at the click of a button, booking a Berkeley Yellow Cab is a convenient task if done through the website of a car rental service company. All big taxi booking companies of Oakland  have online services these days. This is a way of speeding up their services in an effortless manner. One can get a websites that is less complicated and user friendly. The websites usually have a 2 or 3 step process when it comes to booking a Taxi cab in Berkeley online which is less time consuming and easy. This helps in saving out on lot of time and prevents hassle of find a Taxi from Oakland Airport physically.

It is important that you go for only reputed Berkeley Taxi Service companies. While getting a reasonable bargain for a road trip is a good thing, but safety is something that cannot be compromised and ignored with. You can do a quick research for Taxi Cab to Book taxi in  California, that are reputed and that would also provide assurance for quality services with safety. There are a large number of companies listed online, but all of them are surely not credible. So, one has to be extremely careful, ensure its credibility and compare the fairs to your destination before you confirm a Berkeley Cab booking.

When you are landing at an alien place of California, where you have never been before, it is likely the most fearsome feeling – would you be able to reach your destination with all your belongings and luggage, timely and safely. At times, this notion can prevail in your mind, until you reach the place safely and on time, you are longing for. The thought that roams in your mind is, “I don’t even know the city, its directions and the people. Would I really be making to the exact place or I’d get lost somewhere at middle of nowhere?” Well, you shouldn’t fright about it up to that extent. There are some operators that specialize for Taxi Cab in Berkeley, that are also available online. By hiring this kind of Cab services; you can reach your destination timely and safely.

Since, referring people you know is very important way to get the desired information. You can talk to your friends or relatives and they would definitely be able to tell you which taxi booking company provides the best Berkeley Cab Service. This would definitely help you in narrowing down the search and in making the taxi booking with the credible company.

Before you confirm online Cab Berkeley booking, it is best to compare different car rental companies and see the difference in costs and benefits and do not overlook the fine print. You need to carefully read the terms and conditions applied by the cab service company, since you don’t want to get a shock while you have already confirmed the booking. All these guidelines would guarantee that you wisely do the booking, save time and get your money’s worth.

Looking for Yellow Cab Berkeley and Berkeley yellow cab? Green transportation can get you where you need to go with our yellow cab any where in Berkeley. We also have electric taxi for eco friendly environment and have direct service to all airport. Call today (510) 434-1234 for reservation.

by

Yellow Cab Berkeley | L.A. to re-examine regulations controlling city’s taxi companies

Yellow Cab Berkeley

Yellow Cab Berkeley |
510-434-1234

By: Peter
Posted by:www.green-transportations.com

Yellow Cab Berkeley:
In a push to level the playing field for taxi firms competing with new, app-based ride-sharing businesses, Los Angeles officials agreed Thursday to re-examine hundreds of regulations that control the city’s nine licensed cab companies.

At the urging of Mayor Eric Garcetti, the five members of the Board of Taxicab Commissioners said they would review a 64-page taxi rulebook with an eye toward scrapping some regulations and modifying others that put cabs at a competitive disadvantage.In a letter sent to the taxi board Wednesday, Garcetti urged the officials to “take all steps necessary to ensure equal competition.” The growth of companies such as Uber, Lyft and Sidecar means taxi officials need to update policies, including those governing availability of cabs and rates that can be charged, Garcetti wrote.

Lyft, Uber and Sidecar are regulated by the California Public Utility Commission and are not subject to Los Angeles taxi rules. However, city officials could modify existing policies, allowing more taxis to operate in the city or granting them more flexibility in setting fares.
Other U.S. cities, including Chicago, Houston and Seattle, have moved to impose controls on ride-sharing firms, requiring driver training, insurance policies and vehicle inspections. Los Angeles is the first major city to pursue the opposite strategy: easing regulations for legacy cab operations.

Garcetti’s office did not respond to an interview request Thursday. Eric Spiegelman, the president of the taxi commission, declined to comment.

Customers summon ride-sharing services using smartphone apps, and drivers transport passengers in personal vehicles. The services are often marketed as a cheaper, more casual alternative to taxis and have rapidly gained popularity in L.A.

Uber, Lyft and Sidecar use flexible pricing models, called “surge pricing” or “prime time,” that increase during peak periods, such as nights and weekends.

In contrast, Los Angeles’ regulated cabs are required to charge fixed rates: $2.85 when a ride begins, and $2.70 for each subsequent mile. The City Council has capped the number of cabs in the city at 2,300, split among nine licensed companies.

The taxi commission’s review of current rules will require “cooperation and regulation” from the state, Garcetti said in his letter. The statewide Public Utilities Commission requires ride-sharing services to obtain permits and comply with safety requirements, including vehicle inspections, basic insurance coverage and driver background checks.

Garcetti asked city taxi officials to present recommendations by the end of the year. Major policy changes, including ones involving fares, would have to be approved by the City Council.

Looking for Yellow Cab Berkeley and Berkeley yellow cab? Green transportation can get you where you need to go with our yellow cab and Berkeley cab any where in Berkeley.We also serve Green Taxi Berkeley service for eco friendly environment. If you are tired of yellow just add some blue and you get a Green Cab! Please think and support Green and Go Green.

Source: www.latimes.com

by

Berkeley Yellow Cab | New Service Offers Taxis Exclusively for Women

Berkeley Yellow Cab

Berkeley Yellow Cab

 

 

 

By: Tim
Posted By:www.green-transportations.com/

 

Berkeley Yellow Cab:
New Yorkers can already choose from yellow taxis, green cabs or black livery cars. They can tap a smartphone app for a ride, or simply stick out an arm. They can pay with cash or credit.

Now there is one more option: a female driver.

A new livery service starting Sept. 16 in New York City, Westchester County and Long Island will offer female drivers exclusively, for female riders, according to its founder. It will take requests for rides through an app, and dispatch drivers sporting hot pink pashmina scarves.

The service will be called SheTaxis — SheRides in New York City because of regulations barring it from using “taxi” in its name — and aims to serve women who may feel uncomfortable being driven by men, or who simply prefer the company of other women. The app will ask potential riders if there is a woman in their party. If not, they will be automatically redirected to other car services.

The app will be available only through Apple, starting on Sept. 16 and will eventually be made available for Android devices.

“Perfect idea,” declared Gretchen Britt, 51, a school clerk in Manhattan who uses cabs and livery cars three to four times a month, always driven by men. “You feel safer and more comfortable with a woman.”

It got a nod from one Bronx man, Gibson Pierrelouis, 22, even though he was told he could not use the service himself. That was fine, he said. He wanted it for his six sisters.

The women’s livery service was started by Stella Mateo, a mother of two daughters, who said that she could have used a female driver to help shuttle them to soccer, field hockey, basketball and gymnastics practices when they were growing up. Ms. Mateo’s husband, Fernando, is the founder of the New York State Federation of Taxi Drivers, an industry group representing 30,000 taxi and livery drivers.

Ms. Mateo said she also saw her service as a way to help women join an industry that has long been dominated by men.

Of New York City’s 59,999 for-hire drivers of livery cars, green cabs, limousines and luxury sedans, only 2,952 of them, or 5 percent, are women, according to city data. Even fewer women drive yellow cabs: 574 out of 51,874 drivers, or 1 percent.

The new women’s service comes as the livery industry has become safer, in part, because of required measures, such as bullet-resistant partitions and security cameras in cars. During the 1990s, dozens of drivers were killed in a single year and many more assaulted or robbed. Even so, it can still be dangerous for men and women alike, as underscored last month by the fatal carjackings involving two male livery drivers in the Bronx.

Miriam Malave, 54, a livery driver in Brooklyn for three decades, said she gets more requests than she can handle, often from Hasidic women in Williamsburg who will only ride with women. Even so, she said, she continues to face discrimination from male drivers who tell her: “This is a man’s job. Go home and cook.”

SheTaxis will partner with existing livery companies to provide the rides at competitive rates, Ms. Mateo said. SheTaxis, which has a staff of six, has already recruited 50 female drivers, ranging in age from 21 to 70. The service will collect fares through its app, using credit or debit cards, and then send payments to the drivers. “I have a lot of friends, they think it’s dangerous picking up guys in the street,” said Stephanie Rodriguez, 21, a college student who earns about $700 a week driving a livery car in the Bronx.
Continue reading the main story
Continue reading the main story

Meera Joshi, chairwoman of the New York City Taxi & Limousine Commission, said she saw it as another amenity for riders: “As with so many service industries, the for-hire vehicle industry continues to get more and more specialized in terms of the products and services it offers.”

Ms. Mateo said she envisions the livery service expanding to Washington, Miami, Chicago and other cities during the next year. Similar women’s driving services exist in other countries, including India.

At a recent lunch in Manhattan, more than a dozen livery company owners and their representatives welcomed the women drivers, with several noting that women tended to be their best employees. “We can recruit more women and provide better service to the community,” said Jose Viloria, the owner of Elegante car service, where currently only 10 of the 350 drivers are women.

Cristina Velos, an immigrant from the Dominican Republic, said she decided to become a livery driver after 17 years as a hotel housekeeper, earning $25 an hour. “I think there’s more opportunity,” said Ms. Velos, 42. “You have more time for family. You feel more comfortable. You never have a supervisor.”

Lizette Colon, 30, a marketing representative for a liquor distributor, said she will not only drive for the service on weekends, she will use it herself when she goes to clubs. If she rides with a male driver, she said, she snaps a picture of his license with her cellphone and sends it to a friend as a precaution. “I really don’t like getting into a car with a stranger,” she said. “You don’t know anything about him.”

Others, like Josephina Soto, 25, an aspiring singer looking for flexible hours, said she saw her new job as empowering to women, both in the front seat and the back. As a teenager, she recalled, she once tired of men flirting with her while she was working out and joined a Lucille Roberts gym for women only.

“This is the cab version of the gym,” she said. “I love the whole SheTaxis thing. Most of the time, there’s a lot of men-to-men stuff, but it’s not usually about the women.”
Looking for Berkeley Yellow Cab? Green transportation Cab Company is a great way to go green, and we strive to be the name you remember to get you anywhere you need to go with Berkeley yellow cab. Call today (510) 434-1234 for reservation.

Source:www.nytimes.com

 

by

Yellow Cab Berkeley | The Safest States For Driving

Yellow Cab Berkeley

Yellow Cab Berkeley |510-434-1234

By: Harrry
Posted By:www.green-transportations.com

The safest places to drive in the nation are the District of Columbia and Massachusetts, but West Virginia, South Carolina, North Dakota and Wyoming are among the worst states.

Those are the results of a new report that found that while road safety in the United States has improved substantially in the last decade — road fatalities across the nation are down about 23 percent since 2005 – fatality rates vary greatly by region.

Traffic death rates are generally higher in the Northern Plains and southern states than in the Northeast, Midwest and West, according to “Road Safety in the Individual U.S. States: Current Status and Recent Changes,” released last month by the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI) in Ann Arbor.

The report examined individual fatality rates based on distance driven and population, and graphically shows the recent status and changes in all 50 states and the District of Columbia in 2012 (the latest year for which federal data is available) and 2005 (a recent peak).

“This is a novel study,” said Michael Sivak, a research professor at UMTRI and the author of the report. “Prior to my study, there did not exist a comprehensive evaluation of the variability among the individual states in terms of different indexes of road safety.”

The analysis was based on data from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

The District of Columbia, Massachusetts, and Minnesota have the lowest fatality rates per miles driven, according to the report, while the highest are in West Virginia, South Carolina and Montana. The lowest fatality rates based on population are in the District of Columbia, Massachusetts and New York. The highest rates are in North Dakota, Wyoming and Montana.
In addition to the current status of each state and the District of Columbia based on the death toll on distance driven and population, the report also looked at individual improvements of those measures between the years 2005 and 2012.
The greatest reductions during those years occurred in the District of Columbia and Nevada, according to the report. However, road safety worsened Vermont and North Dakota.

Looking for Yellow Cab Berkeley and Berkeley yellow cab? Green transportation can get you where you need to go with our yellow cab any where in Berkeley. We also have electric taxi for eco friendly environment and have direct service to all airport. Call today (510) 434-1234 for reservation.

 

Source: www.forbes.com

by

Yellow Cab Berkeley | Baltimore taxis must accept credit cards by end of year, state regulators rule

Yellow Cab Berkeley

Yellow Cab Berkeley | 510-434-1234

                                                Yellow Cab Berkeley

By: Shaun
Posted By: www.green-transportations.com
Source: www.baltimoresun.com

Looking for Yellow Cab Berkeley? Green transportation can get you where you need to go with yellow cab Berkeley and Berkeley yellow cab. We also serve Green Taxi Berkeley service for eco friendly environment. Call today (510) 434-1234 for reservation.

State regulators on Tuesday rejected rate increases for taxis and ordered all operators to install new credit-card-reading smart meters by the end of the year.

The Maryland Public Service Commission said the new meters will bring more predictability and better service to customers hailing cabs in Baltimore city and county, while providing better financial data for use in future rate reviews.

The commission cited the lack of reliable data as a major reason for rejecting rate increases. The commission’s staff had proposed an 18 percent city fare increase and a 14 percent county fare increase but based that analysis on incomplete data.

With “spotty, unreliable, and inconsistent data,” the commission said it was unable to reach “an adequate determination of revenues sufficient to enable common carriers to provide transportation services under honest, economical, and efficient management.”

It rejected increases because of that, it said — a decision made easier by the fact that many city taxi drivers didn’t want them.

Several months ago, drivers who hold their own permits but work under Veolia Transportation, which operates the city’s Yellow, Checker and Sun fleets, began opposing rate increases in the face of increasing competition from car-for-hire apps such as Uber and Lyft, said Dwight Kines, a Veolia official involved in negotiations with the PSC.

In response, Kines sent the PSC a letter indicating that Veolia — the largest operator of taxis in Baltimore — was ending its support for a hike.

“We were against the increase on behalf of our permit holders, who once upon a time supported an increase,” Kines said Tuesday. “Obviously, with the influx of these illegal transportation apps, their revenue is getting squeezed.”

The legality of the apps still is being reviewed, also by the PSC, but they haven’t stopped operating in the city. More than 30 Maryland cab companies have filed suit against Uber, demanding unspecified damages for upending the state’s cab industry.

The app companies have said they don’t violate the law and offer consumers more transportation options.

The new electronic meters required by the PSC, due in all taxis in the city and county by Dec. 31, must accept credit cards and print passenger receipts. They also would have to display rates and any add-ons, such as for travel outside of a cab’s jurisdiction, as well as Baltimore’s per-passenger tax. They also must compile operating statistics that enable better financial record keeping.

The commission gave the companies 60 days to report whether the meters could electronically submit operational data and email receipts to customers.

The commission said it does not believe “the relatively small cost of the meters, printers, and rear seat payment systems presents a burden to taxicab owners,” and ordered that owners “not pass on the costs of any of the new in-cab requirements to drivers, either directly or through an increase in lease rates.”

Kines said the cost of the meters won’t be a major burden for Veolia — which already has meters with card-reading capabilities in many cabs. However, the timeline is tight for installing the systems, which the PSC said must include a “rear-seat payment center” for credit payments, he said.

“It’s good policy and it definitely improves cab service, but getting it done by the end of the year is unreasonable,” Kines said. “I’ll definitely be asking for an extension.”

The changes could be a financial issue for drivers who own their own vehicles and will be personally responsible for the costs, Kines said.

The case got its start in 2009, when taxi drivers challenged a drop in a fuel surcharge pegged to fluctuations in fuel costs. In response, the commission determined that fresh reviews of rates and of the number of permits in the region were needed.

Aside from the new meter requirements, the PSC also introduced measures to streamline financial reporting from taxi companies moving forward, and new rules governing permits in the Baltimore area — including new policies for evaluating applications for wheelchair-accessible cabs and for revoking permits from drivers who don’t drive at least 12,000 miles a year.

Looking for Yellow Cab Berkeley? Green transportation can get you where you need to go with yellow cab Berkeley and Berkeley yellow cab. We also serve Green Taxi Berkeley service for eco friendly environment. Call today (510) 434-1234 for reservation.

Source:www.baltimoresun.com

by

Berkeley Yellow Cab |Exclusive Airport Cab Contract Benefits Many Local Taxi Companies

By:Adam
Posted By:www.green-transportations.com
Source: www.newsplex.com

Looking for Berkeley Yellow Cab? Green transportation Cab Company is a great way to go green, and we strive to be the name you remember to get you anywhere you need to go with Berkeley yellow cab. Call today (510) 434-1234 for reservation.

A contract between a local cab company and the Charlottesville-Albemarle Airport is working out well, but the agreement has flaws that other smaller cab companies say benefit them.

Yellow Cab and Anytime Taxi are the official providers for ground transportation at CHO. At times, demand has been so high that there haven’t been enough cabs for incoming passengers.

“The taxi cab business is on-demand business,” said Melvin Carter, a partner of Carter’s Taxi. “Call, you need a cab in 10 or 15 minutes, we there.”

Melvin says business is up because of CHO’s exclusive contract with Yellow Cab.

“It gave true entrepreneurship in the taxi cab business — let me find business elsewhere,” he said.

The contract, which was in effect last year, made Yellow Cab the only company able to wait in line at the airport to take incoming passengers to their final destinations. Lines that sometimes reached up to dozens of cabs from dozens of companies were eliminated in exchange for a single company’s six to 12 cars.

“It was a very difficult situation. We knew that there were going to be 40 individuals that might not be able to work out here, and a lot of them came out here every day,” said Melinda Crawford, CHO’s executive director.

Crawford said the decision to move to a single-company contract was purely business.

“There were not any regulations about what they could charge and what they couldn’t charge for transporting our passengers,” she said.

Crawford remembers her first complaint from a passenger was about a cab fare. A man told her it cost him $70 to take a cab from the airport to Waynesboro. The following week, the same passenger took another cab that cost him $140 for the same trip.

Now, per the contract, passengers leaving from the airport have some extra security.

“They have specific fares that you’re going to be charged so when you get in a cab, what’s it going to cost you to get in the cab and who’s going to be taking you there because they’re all going to be identified now,” Crawford said.

The airport put out a request for proposals to find the company that could provide the services they needed. Yellow Cab was the only company who gave a formal proposal.

When Yellow Cab gained the contract, the company offered jobs to other cab drivers at smaller businesses.

“Some of the other drivers, I guess they really didn’t want to work for the company itself,” said Larry Bose, general manager of Yellow Cab. “They had their own cars and kind of been used to doing things their own way.”

There’s been one main snag in the process, the airport admits. Sometimes at peak times, there are no cabs in the queue for passengers who just flew in to the airport. This is sometimes due to the fact that flights are diverted to airports in the Washington area, and Yellow Cab has to take passengers to or from there.

“Will you never have to wait for a cab? I doubt it,” Crawford said. “We try very hard and Yellow Cab tries very hard. They’re very responsive.”

And since the Yellow Cabs are tied up, other smaller cab companies, once concerned about a taxi monopoly, now say they’re benefiting from increased business.

Carter said he plans to add a few cars to his fleet at Carter’s Taxi, and he says other smaller companies plan to do the same.

Both Yellow Cab and CHO call the program at the airport a success, and both claim there’s been an increase in ridership. Bose said the company plans to increase its fleet by at least a dozen cars this summer.

“At the end of the day, we had to make sure our passengers were taken care of,” Crawford said.

 

 

by

Yellow Cab Berkeley | Searchers unearth grave of “E.T.,” the video game Atari wanted us to forget

 

Yellow Cab Berkeley

 

 

 

By: Rachael
Source: edition.cnn.com
Posted by: www.green-transportations.com

(CNN) — “E.T.” may have soared in the movies. But as a video game, it was an epic turkey.

When electronics pioneer Atari rushed a game based on the 1982 Hollywood blockbuster to market for its then-dominant home consoles, it was a flop, compounded by the fact that the infant industry was hitting its first slump at the time.

So Atari literally buried the project, dumping truckloads of unsold games in a desert landfill in New Mexico. And amid a decade of entertainment-industry disasters bookended by the movie “Heaven’s Gate” and Milli Vanilli, the “E.T.” game quickly faded into urban legend.

“Riiiight,” you say.

No, really. And over the weekend, with a couple of hundred onlookers watching, excavators led by a documentary film crew began to unearth stacks of 30-year-old Atari cartridges from a landfill outside Alamogordo.

“Urban legend CONFIRMED,” Larry Hryb, one of the creators of Microsoft’s Xbox gaming platform, reported via Twitter from the dig site. Microsoft’s Xbox Entertainment Studios is one of the backers of the planned documentary, tentatively titled “Atari: Game Over.” Hryb also tweeted a photo of the first cartridge to be dug out.

Not so fast, Atari historian Curt Vendel said Monday. “E.T.” cartridges were just one of more than 20 titles found over the weekend, and may not make up more than a fifth of the estimated 700,000-plus units the ailing Atari discarded in 1983, he said. As far as he’s concerned, the great “E.T.” caper remains “a myth.”

“This was a write-off dump,” said Vendel, the co-author of a 2012 book on the company. Atari was being hit from all sides by a saturated market for arcade games, competition from other companies making games for its famous 2600 console and by a large volume of returns from retailers — a problem it had never before faced and wasn’t prepared to handle.

“Poor sales, the video game crash, ‘E.T.’s’ not a great game — the whole thing kind of snowballs together, and then you find Atari is dumping cartridges in the desert,” he said. “That’s how this whole myth kind of self-generated.”

One of those on hand at the landfill Saturday was Howard Scott Warshaw, the game’s designer. When excavators started to retrieve the first of what may be hundreds of thousands of copies of his misbegotten baby, “Everybody went nuts,” Warshaw said.

“I’ve been carrying this thing, the theoretically worst video game of all time, for 30 years now,” he said. “It was a game that was done in five weeks. It was a very brief development. I did the best that I could, and that’s OK.”

But seeing the cartridges emerge from the desert dust was a rush for Warshaw, who’s now a Silicon Valley psychotherapist.

“Something that I did 32 years ago is still creating joy and excitement for people,” he said. “That’s a tremendously satisfying thing for me now.”

Today’s Atari, which still sells games but no longer makes its own platforms, did not respond to a request for comment Sunday. The original company folded in 1984, and several successive companies have bought the name, Vendel said.

“E.T” was rushed to stores in time for Christmas 1982, hobbled not only by its short development time but by a license and royalty agreement that promised the film’s director, Steven Spielberg, $21 million, Vendel said. The company needed to sell out of the 5 million units it produced to break even; it sold about 3.5 million by the following fall, he said.

By that time, Atari was collapsing. About the time “E.T.” hit the shelves, a poor and badly delayed earnings report spooked investors, “and everybody started running to go sell,” Vendel said. At its peak, it employed about 11,000 people; it was shedding employees by the thousands in 1983, and had only about 900 left by the time it closed down.

“They were just cutting the meat off the bone,” he said.

And so in 1983, the company dumped 14 truckloads of merchandise from its service center in El Paso, Texas, in the Alamogordo landfill, about 90 miles away, Vendel said. To keep scavengers from reselling them, the cartridges were covered by a layer of concrete.

None of the “E.T.” cartridges unearthed over the weekend was playable, Warshaw said. But he said there may be as many as 750,000 of them in the landfill, with many successful titles mixed in with the “E.T.” games.

“It was the end of the first product life cycle, and nobody really knew what they were doing,” Warshaw said. Now, manufacturers are designing their next systems even as their new ones start shipping to stores.

“It was a very wacky company, but that’s one of the things that made it amazing place to work,” said Warshaw, who’s come to embrace the game’s infamy.

“I don’t really believe it’s one of the worst games ever, but I really like it when people identify it that way,” Warshaw told CNN. And because he also designed of one of Atari’s best-rated games, “Yars’ Revenge,” he said, “I have the greatest range of any game designer in history.”

Looking for Yellow Cab Berkeley? Green transportation can get you where you need to go with yellow cab Berkeley and Berkeley yellow cab. We also serve Green Taxi Berkeley service for ecofriendly environment. Call today (510) 434-1234 for reservation.

 
Source: edition.cnn.com/gaming-gadgets/atari-et-video-game/index.html

by

Cab Berkeley |Every New Car Will Have a Rear-Facing Camera in 4 Years

Cab Berkeley

By : John Smith
Source : thewire.com
Posted By : green-transportations.com

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has issued a final rule to require all new vehicles under 10,000 pounds, including all cars, SUVs, vans, and trucks to have backup cameras by May 1, 2018. The backup cameras must have a 10-foot by 20-foot zone view behind the vehicle. The backup camera system will also be required to meet NHTSA requirements for “image size, linger time, response time, durability, and deactivation.”

This new law will be saving lots of lives, mainly those of children. United States Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx explained that the official ruling came out of a concern for primarily child safety: “Safety is our highest priority, and we are committed to protecting the most vulnerable victims of backover accidents — our children and seniors. As a father, I can only imagine how heart wrenching these types of accidents can be for families, but we hope that today’s rule will serve as a significant step toward reducing these tragic accidents.”

There are an average 210 deaths and 15,000 injuries every year caused by back up crashes. Thirty-one precent of these deaths are children under five, and 26 percent of deaths are for people 70 and over. The NHTSA estimates that “58 to 69 lives are expected to be saved each year once the entire on-road vehicle fleet is equipped with rear visibility systems meeting the requirements of [this] final rule.”

The rule also satisfies the Cameron Gulsbransen Kids Transportation Safety Act of 2007, which covers vehicle safety for children through backup visibility, vehicle roll away, and a child safety program. Under this safety act, the NHTSA had 36 months from 2008 to issue a ruling on backup cameras, but this was delayed numerous times due to research and rule revision. Some believe the delay in the law came from the government being “reluctant to put more financial burdens on an auto industry already crippled by an economic downturn.” The cost for the cameras to automakers is about $132 to $142 per vehicle for a complete backup system, and $43 to $45 to add a camera to a vehicle that already has a screen.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says 73 percent of new vehicles were already projected to have backup cameras by 2018, as automakers have already embraced both the safety and coolness factors of this new technology. There’s more than just easy parallel parking at stake.

Source :thewire.com/technology

by

Yellow Cab Berkeley | L’Wren Scott: Tributes pour in as Jagger denies split report

Yellow Cab Berkeley

BY: Tim
Source: bbc.com
Posted by: www.green-transportations.com

Scott, who was believed to be 49, was found by her assistant at 10:00 local time (14:00 GMT) on Monday.

Supermodel Naomi Campbell, Vogue editor Anna Wintour and singer Madonna were among those who eulogized Scott.

Rolling Stones frontman Sir Mick Jagger meanwhile hit out at a report that he had recently split from the designer.

Scott was found dead by her assistant 90 minutes after sending her a text message asking her to come to her Manhattan apartment without specifying why, reports the Associated Press news agency.

Police said there was no sign of foul play and no note was found.
‘Total perfectionist’

Naomi Campbell said Scott was “the epitome of elegance and femininity”.
Musician Mick Jagger (left) and designer L’Wren Scott appeared at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City on 2 May 2011 Mick Jagger (left) and L’Wren Scott were together for 13 years

Anna Wintour described Scott as “a total perfectionist… always unbelievably generous, gracious, kind and so much fun.”

She added: “Her old world American manners and charm were from another time, but her sensibility was always fiercely modern.”

Madonna wrote in a statement: “This is a horrible and tragic loss. I’m so upset. I loved L’Wren’s work and she was always so generous with me.”

Actress Nicole Kidman, said to be a friend of many years, was “heartbroken and in shock right now and unable to say anything”, according to a spokeswoman.

Bianca Jagger, one of Sir Mick’s former wives, tweeted: “Heartbroken to learn of the loss of the lovely and talented L’Wren Scott. My thoughts and prayers are with her family. May she rest in peace.”

A spokesman for Sir Mick, 70, issued a statement late on Monday to deny a report that he had recently ended his relationship with Scott, whom he began dating in 2001.

“The story in the New York Post re a split between Mick Jagger and L’Wren Scott is 100% untrue,” said his spokeswoman, Victoria Scarfone.

“There is absolutely no basis in fact to this story. It is a horrible and inaccurate piece of gossip during this very tragic time for Mick.”

The Rolling Stones singer, who is currently on tour with the band, said earlier he was “completely shocked and devastated” by her death.

The band are due to play in Perth, Western Australia, on Wednesday, though it is unclear if the performance will go ahead.

According to its last UK filing Scott’s firm, LS Fashion Limited, owed creditors about $7.6m (£4.6m), as of 31 December 2012. It had assets of $1.7m.

Scott’s death comes a month after she cancelled a show at London Fashion Week, saying production delays had left key pieces unready for the show.

Scott, born Luann Bambrough, was raised by Mormon adoptive parents in the US state of Utah.

She was said to be 6ft 3in (1.9m) tall, towering over her boyfriend.

Scott began her career as a model in Paris, then moved to Los Angeles to become a fashion stylist, according to a biography on her company’s website.

She founded her own high-end fashion label in 2006 and created a more affordable line of clothes with Banana Republic.

Scott had dressed actresses such as Oprah Winfrey, Sarah Jessica Parker and Angelina Jolie for red carpet events.

She was also a costume consultant for films such as Ocean’s Thirteen and Eyes Wide Shut.

Yellow Cab Berkeley with Green Transportation is the only cab service providing company in CA which supplies wide selection of transport facilities. Our Cab services are quick, timely and on time to the client and skill the fast paced and cozy ride with our Transportation service.
We are native closely-held and primarily based company, started in Berkeley, CA,  American state. We’ve got your complete transportation wants from van taxis to Lincoln city cars to our new side electrical taxis. We wish whole world to assume Green in their transportation wants instead recent Yellow Cab or the other regular taxi company. Green transportation will get you wherever you wish to travel with yellow cab Berkeley and Berkeley yellow cab. We have a tendency to conjointly serve Green  Taxi Berkeley service for ecofriendly atmosphere. If you’re tired of yellow simply add some fun  you get a Green  Cab! Please assume and support Green and Go Green.
For a lot of detail please visit our official website- http://www.green-transportations.com

Source: www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada

by

Yellow Cab Berkeley |Apple unveils CarPlay iPhone system at Geneva show

Yellow Cab Berkeley

By – John Smith
Source –  bbc.com
Posted By – econolodgemontmorencyfalls.com

CarPlay allows iPhones to plug into cars so drivers will be able to call up maps, make calls and request music with Siri voice commands or a touch on a vehicle’s dashboard screen.It requires Apple’s latest software, iOS 7, and an iPhone 5, 5C or 5S.

Apple first announced plans to make its iOS mobile operating system more compatible with cars last June.Car producers including Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz and Volvo previewed CarPlay in Geneva with other producers saying they plan to adopt the system.

“iPhone users always want their content at their fingertips and CarPlay lets drivers use their iPhone in the car with minimized distraction,” said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s vice president of iPhone and iOS product marketing.Ferrari is previewing CarPlay on its four-wheel-drive FF model.Volvo plans to feature the iPhone system in its redesigned Volvo XC90 sports utility vehicle (SUV).

Mercedes-Benz isn’t revealing which models will get CarPlay, but expects that both its S-Class large sedan and C-Class midsize sedan should be compatible with the system.A long list of other car manufacturers, including General Motors, Ford and Honda, also are drawing up plans for CarPlay, according to Apple.

Google announced it was teaming up with car manufacturers including Audi, Honda and Hyundai to integrate its Android operating system into their dashboards last month.GM and Honda declined to comment on their CarPlay plans.

Meanwhile Ford has already launched a voice-control system called Sync made by Microsoft in some of its cars and offers its own touch-screen technology.

Looking for Yellow Cab Berkeley? Green transportation can get you where you need to go with yellow cab Berkeley and Berkeley yellow cab. We also serve Green Taxi Berkeley service for ecofriendly environment. Call today (510) 434-1234 for reservation.

Source- bbc.com /Apple unveils CarPlay iPhone system at Geneva show

by

Cab Berkeley| Obama budget sets up election-year clash with Republicans

Cab Berkeley

 

By- John Smith
Source- reuters.com
Posted By- green-transportations.com
(Reuters) – President Barack Obama proposed new tax credits and job-training programs for U.S. workers on Tuesday in a 2015 budget that drew instant condemnation from Republicans, who dismissed the document as an election-year campaign pitch.

The $3.9 trillion blueprint for the fiscal year that begins on October 1 also would boost spending on roads and bridges and expand early-childhood education while paying for some of the additional spending by scaling back tax breaks for wealthier Americans.

The proposal has almost no chance of passage in Congress, where Republicans control the House of Representatives, but it lays out Obama’s policy priorities ahead of November congressional elections. Democrats will be fighting to keep control of the U.S. Senate and avoid losing ground in the House.

“Our budget is about choices, it’s about our values,” Obama told reporters during a visit to an elementary school.

“At a time when our deficits are falling at the fastest rate in 60 years, we’ve got to decide if we’re going to keep squeezing the middle class or if we’re going to continue to reduce the deficits responsibly while taking steps to grow and strengthen the middle class.”

While working within the overall cap of $1.014 trillion for discretionary spending that Congress set for 2015, the president proposed $56 billion in additional spending for education, welfare and defense programs, paid for in part by ending a tax break for wealthy retirees.

Republicans objected to the plan’s spending increases and said it did not address larger fiscal challenges related to the Social Security retirement program and Medicare and Medicaid healthcare for the elderly, poor and disabled.

“After years of fiscal and economic mismanagement, the president has offered perhaps his most irresponsible budget yet,” Republican House Speaker John Boehner said in a statement. “Spending too much, borrowing too much, and taxing too much, it would hurt our economy and cost jobs.”

Democrats hope to draw a contrast with the Republicans’ focus on fiscal restraint and portray themselves as better able to deliver jobs and growth.

Obama’s proposal signaled a shift from last year’s emphasis on deficit cutting to a greater focus on fighting poverty, a goal the president is highlighting as he eyes his legacy with fewer than three years left in office.

Republicans, cognizant of Americans’ slow recovery from the 2007-2009 recession, also have focused on poverty-reduction but they favor a dramatically smaller government role.

House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, a potential Republican presidential contender in 2016, argued in a report on Monday that the government had barely made a dent in combating poverty in the past 50 years despite massive spending. He blasted Obama’s Tuesday proposal.

“This budget isn’t a serious document; it’s a campaign brochure,” said Ryan, who will unveil a Republican budget as a counter to Obama’s in the coming weeks.

POVERTY, TAXES, AND DEFICITS

Obama’s budget proposes expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit, an anti-poverty measure that is meant to encourage low-income Americans to continue working.

The change would expand the program to cover some 13.5 million people who do not have children and make it available to younger workers who are not currently eligible.

The expansion, which would cost $60 billion, would be funded by closing loopholes such as the tax break for “carried interest,” profits earned by wealthy investors who run private equity and other funds.

Obama has long sought to end that tax break, which allows financiers to treat their income as capital gains, making it subject to a tax rate of 20 percent instead of the nearly 40 percent rate on ordinary income paid by the highest earners.

Representative Dave Camp, the Republican chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, also proposed last month to “clean up” the carried interest deduction, but tax reform is not expected to get traction in Congress this year.

The White House signaled last month that its new budget would not extend the olive branch to Republicans on reform of entitlement programs such as Social Security. Last year Obama proposed changing how the government calculates inflation for Social Security and other federal benefits that could have led to income drops for older Americans.

White House officials said Obama abandoned the idea after Republicans declined to offer concessions of their own.

While Obama played down the deficit issue, congressional budget analysts have warned that longer-term budget picture looks bleak because of the aging of the population, which will lead to increased costs for entitlements programs such as Social Security and Medicare.

The White House projected that in fiscal year 2015 the budget deficit would total $564 billion, or 3.1 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product. That would be down from a $649 billion deficit, or 3.7 percent of GDP, in fiscal year 2014.

The Obama budget projects that annual deficits will remain in the $400 billion to $500 billion range throughout the decade, reaching a modest 1.6 percent of GDP in 2024.

The outlook from the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office looks far worse, forecasting that deficits will climb back to $1.1 trillion by 2024, or 4 percent of GDP.

The Pentagon unveiled a $496 billion base budget that shifts the United States from its war-footing for the first time in a dozen years, cutting the size of the military to pay for training and new weapons systems in an era of tighter spending.

The budget set the Obama administration on a collision course with Congress by seeking to eliminate popular older weapons and reform military compensation while proposing an additional $26.4 billion in military spending to be paid for by closing tax loopholes and cutting mandatory spending.
Source- reuters.com/Obama budget sets up election-year clash with Republicans

by

Taxi Cab Oakland California | Richard Branson’s celebrity island

Taxi Cab Oakland California

Taxi Cab Oakland California

     Taxi Cab Oakland California

 By- John Smith
Source-edition.cnn.com
Posted by-Green-Transportation.Com

Richard Branson has never been one to shy away from sharing his ostentatious exploits with the wider world.

Over the years, the billionaire entrepreneur has invited us to follow his attempts to hot-air balloon around the globe, delve the deepest recesses of the oceans and cross the Atlantic on a speedboat.

Now the founder of the Virgin Group has provided access to his very own private Caribbean resort, Necker Island, for a new book by Australian fashion and celebrity photographer Russell James.

Featuring more than 150 deluxe images, “A Virgin Island” reveals Necker’s idyllic beaches and spectacular tropical wildlife as well as dipping inside Branson’s luxury residences.

Branson purchased the British Virgin Island retreat in 1978 for a knockdown price of $180,000, setting up a home in which he still stays for at least two months of every year.
Ride aboard Virgin Galactic spacecraft
Branson continues to break down barriers

In 1984, he opened a luxury resort on Necker that has since welcomed a long line of rich and famous guests.

Those reported to have spent their vacation time there include the late Diana Princess of Wales, Hollywood stars Kate Winslet, Eddie Murphy, Geena Davis, Kate Moss and Robert De Niro as well as statesmen such as Jimmy Carter, Nelson Mandela and Tony Blair.

Google co-founder Larry Page, meanwhile, married his girlfriend on the island in an elaborate 2007 ceremony.

Today, a stay on Necker is possible for anyone with the means, although prices rise to a prohibitive $60,000 a night to rent out the entire island.

If you’re short a buck or two, we suggest clicking through a selection of James’ best photos in the gallery above as a more fiscally prudent way of attaining the Necker experience.

Source- edition.cnn.com/richard-bransons-treasure-island

by

Berkeley Yellow Cab|Train Accidents Stir Worries About Crude Transport

Train Accidents Stir Worries About Crude Transport

 

At least 10 times since 2008, freight trains hauling oil across North America have derailed and spilled significant quantities of crude, with most of the accidents touching off fires or catastrophic explosions.

The derailments released almost 3 million gallons of oil, nearly twice as much as the largest pipeline spill in the U.S. since at least 1986. And the deadliest wreck killed 47 people in the town of Lac-Megantic, Quebec.

Those findings, from an Associated Press review of U.S. and Canadian accident records, underscore a lesser-known danger of America’s oil boom, which is changing the global energy balance and raising urgent safety questions closer to home.

Experts say recent efforts to improve the safety of oil shipments belie an unsettling fact: With increasing volumes of crude now moving by rail, it’s become impossible to send oil-hauling trains to refineries without passing major population centers, where more lives and property are at risk.

Adding to the danger is the high volatility of the light, sweet crude from the fast-growing Bakken oil patch in Montana and North Dakota, where many of the trains originate. Because it contains more natural gas than heavier crude, Bakken oil can have a lower ignition point. Of the six oil trains that derailed and caught fire since 2008, four came from the Bakken and each caused at least one explosion. That includes the accident at Lac-Megantic, which spilled an estimated 1.6 million gallons and set off a blast that levelled a large section of the town.

After recent fiery derailments in Quebec, Alabama, North Dakota and New Brunswick, companies and regulators in the U.S. and Canada are pursuing an array of potential changes such as slowing or rerouting trains, upgrading rupture-prone tank cars and bolstering fire departments. Company executives were expected to offer a set of voluntary safety measures in the coming days at the request of U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx.

“I’m absolutely positive the railway industry will come up with techniques to define how to minimize risk,” said Allan Zarembski who leads the rail-safety program at the University of Delaware. “The key word is ‘minimize.’ You can’t eliminate risk.”

Since 2008, the number of tanker cars hauling oil has increased 40-fold, and federal records show that’s been accompanied by a dramatic spike in accidental crude releases from tank cars. Over the next decade, rail-based oil shipments are forecast to increase from 1 million barrels a day to more than 4.5 million barrels a day, according to transportation officials.

By rail, it’s roughly 2,000 miles from the heart of the oil boom on the Northern Plains to some of the East Coast refineries that turn the crude into gasoline. Trains pulling several million gallons apiece must pass through metropolitan areas that include Minneapolis, Chicago, Cleveland and Buffalo.

Some cities such as Chicago have belt railroads that divert freight traffic from the metropolitan core. But elsewhere, railroad representatives said, the best-maintained and safest track often runs directly through communities that were built around the railroad.

Trains sometimes have no option but to roll deep into populated areas. That’s the case in Philadelphia, New Orleans, Albany, N.Y., and Tacoma, Wash.

Experts say the explosive nature of Bakken oil derailments caught everyone off guard — from regulators to the railroads themselves.